Apparatus for starting motor-car or the like engines.



S. H. BOSWELL.

APPARATUS FOR STARTING MOTOR OAR OR THE LIKE ENGINES.

ATPLIOA'I'ION FILED MAR. so, 1900.

970,604. Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

SAMUEL nowennBoswELL, or NORWICH, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR STARTING MOTOR-CAR OR THE LIKE ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 20, 1910.

Application filed March 80, 1908. Serial No. 494,248.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL Howano Bos- WELL, asubject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at 48 London street, Norwich, in the county of Norfolk, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Starting Motor-Car and the Like Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to starting apparatus for motor-car and the like engines, and particularly tothat class of starting ap aratus in which ratchet and pawlmeciianism,operated from the drivers seat, is used to impart the necessary initial rotation to the engine shaft. In apparatus of this class, as heretofore constructed, this ratchet and pawl mechanism has been operated by means of a system of gearing, levers or cords, and the apparatus has been of complicated and inconvenient construction.

The object of the present invention is to effect the operation of the lever or plate carrying theoperating pawl, by means of a foot lever directly pivoted thereto, and which lever is adapted to disengage the said pawl at the end of its stroke.

The invention also comprises the combination with the above of means for locking the foot lever in its inoperative position with the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel.

In the accompanying drawin .Figure 1 is a view of the apparatus in t e operative position, the dotted lines indicating the position at the end of the operation, and the chain-dotted lines indicating the locked position. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan of the plate used for locking the foot lever.

In carrying the invention into efi'ect as shown in the drawings, the engine shaft (1, or an intermediate shaft connected thereto, is provided with a ratchet wheel I), secured thereto by suitable means, for instance by means of akey c. A' plate or lever d is loosely mounted u n the shaft a adjacent to the ratchet whe b, and carries a pawl e pivoted at f and pressed into engagement with the ratchet wheel b, in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, by means of a spring g. The spring bears at one end against a lug h on the lever 11 and at the other end against a pin 2' on a rod 70 slidable in the lug h and connected to the p wl e.

The lever 03 is operated by means of a foot lever Z pivotally connected thereto at m and guided in its movement by a plate n secured to thefootboard of the car. At its upper end the foot lever Z is provided with a plate or head 0 for the drivers foot, and at its lower end is formed with an extension 1, which near the end of its'movement engages with a projection g on the end of the rod-Ia, and withdraws the pawl from out of engagement with the ratchet b. I

As shown in Fig. 2 the plate 92 is provided with a hole 1' and on its underside with a recess 8 connected together by a slot t. The lever Z during its upward and downward movement is guided in the hole 9', and when it is desired to lock the lever it is moved along the slot t, its upper end being flattened at u for the purpose, until it..engages the recess 8 in the underside of the plate in which position, (shown in chain dotted lines in Fig. 1) it is locked with the pawl e in the disengaged position. A spring 4; secured at one end to a rod w and at the other end to a pin a: on the lever (Z vtends to draw the apparatus into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1.

In the operation of the apparatus the lever 1, being normally in the locked position, is moved, by the drivers foot engaging the head 0, until it registers with theliole '1', in which position the spring '0 draws the apparatus into the operative position, the pawl e being released by the extension p and pressed by the spring 9 into engagement with the ratchet wheel I). The lever Z is then depressed, the pawl e rotating the ratchet wheel and then being disengaged by the extension 7). This operation is repeated until the engine is started, when the lever is locked as described.

It is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact details described as these may be modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a starting apparatus for motor-car and the like engines, the combination with a ratchebwheel connected with the engine shaft; a lever adjacent thereto and loosely mounted on said shaft, and a pawl carried by said lever adapted to engage said ratchet, of a foot-lever directly pivoted to the More to engage said rod to disengage the said said lever and means operated by said lever to disengage said pawl on completion of the operation.

2. In a starting apparatus for motor-car and the like engines, the combination with a ratchet-Wheel connected with the engine shaft, a lever adjacent thereto, and a pawl carried by said lever adapted to engage said ratchet, of a foot lever directly pivoted tothe aforesaid lever, means operated by said lever to disengage said pawl on completion of the operation, and means for locking said lever to hold the apparatus in the inoperative position.

In a starting apparatus for motor-car and the like engines, the combination of .a ratchet-wheel connected with the engine shaft, a lever mounted adjacent thereto, a pawl carried by said lever adapted to engage said ratchet, a rod connected to said pawl, a spring engaging said rod, a foot lever directly pivoted to the aforesaid lever, and an extension on said foot lever adapted pawl on completion of the operation.

4:. In a starting apparatus for motor-car and the like engines, the combination of a ratchet-wheel connected with the engine 5. In a starting apparatus for motor-car and the like engines, the combination of a ratchet wheel connected with the engine shaft, a lever mounted adjacent thereto,a

pawl carried by said lever adapted to engage said ratchet, a rod connected to said pawl, a spring engaging said rod, a foot lever directly pivoted to the aforesaid lever, an extension on said foot lever adapted to engage said rod to disengage the said pawl, a plate for guiding said foot lever, a slot in said plate to allow movement of said foot lever, and a recess in said plate adapted to engage said leverto hold the apparatus in the inoperative position.

SAMUEL HOWARD BOSWELL. Witnesses:

HENRY CHARLES PINcmNG, BERNARD BOSWELL. 

